Canadian molecular biologist, Alina Chan, who specializes is gene therapy research, has written an article/opinion paper highlighting 5 key reasons why COVID originally escaped from the lab in Wuhan, China, and not from a natural mutation and transmission at the wet market via human/animal interactions.
She is testifying before Congress about this.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... -leak.html
Can also be found on National Post.
Might be behind a paywall so I'll drop the points here without the detailed explanations.
1. Coincidental starting point. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has been hunting for SARS-like viruses for more than 10 years.
2. A leaked document about a similar virus. In 2018 the lab submitted a gran proposal for a research project which aimed to create a SARS-like virus with a unique feature - the very same feature that SARS-CoV-2 has, and the genetic data suggests that the feature had been gained (gain of function anyone?) just before the pandemic began.
3. Sub-standard laboratory safety protocols. Labs working with these viruses can operate at one of four biosafety levels - BSL 1 is the lowest, BSL 4 the highest. An early draft of the aforementioned grant proposal suggested the Wuhan labe would operate at BSL-2 for cost savings. This was not close to the appropriate level of containment. According to one scientist: "Yes China has the right to set their own policy. You believe this was appropriate containment if you want but don't expect me to believe it. Moreover, don't insult my intelligence by trying to feed me this load of BS."
4. Market transmission lacks evidence. There was no strong evidence to support the theory and claim that transmission occurred at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan.
5. Key information is still missing. Evidence that COVID emerged from wildlife trade is still missing despite intense search focused on animal trade and people linked to it.
In her conclusion she says: "It is undeniable that US federal funding helped to build an unprecedented collection of SARS-like viruses at the Wuhan institute, as well as contributing to research that enhanced them."
Apparently Fauci was lying his face off to a House subcommittee about his role in some of this.